Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Bataan Death March
I, also, had previously heard of the Death March but did not know that much about it. The presentation was very thorough when explaining how the POWs suffered and what the results were of the March. I was glad to hear in the end the Japanese were charged with war crimes and that some were sent to prison and some were even sentanced to death. I do not believe that not agreeing with the Geneva Convention's rules for POWs is a good enough excuse to use for torturing people this way.
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2 comments:
I agree that even because a country did not sign the Geneva Convention does not mean that the POWS should have been treated or killed this way. But I also do not know who is specifically to blame here. Did this treatment come all the way down from the emperor or was it just certain generals? Or was it just the culture of Japan to treat their prisoners like this? Or was it a combination of all three?
The notion presents some interesting problems to be sure. The concept of "bushido" was very prevalent in Japanese culture, and the Geneva conventions (a western innovation) flew right in the face of Japanese culture. Who is right? Who is wrong? Very sticky stuff.
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